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"The face of the operation is Briatore (referred to exclusively in the film by his colleagues and angry, chanting detractors as "Flavio"), an anthropomorphic radish who spends most of his time at QPR plotting to fire all of the managers."

At press time, Harbaugh had sent Michigan’s athletic department an envelope containing a heavily annotated seating chart, a list of the 63,000 seat views he had found unsatisfactory, and a glowing 70-page report on section 25, row 12, seat 9, which he claimed is “exactly what the great sport of football is all about.”

THAT WHICH IS THE CURRENT SITUATION

ACE: Round 8, Pick 2: Braxton Miller, QB/?, Ohio State

DEFENSE: DE Joey Bosa (OSU), DT Darius Hamilton (RU), NT Austin Johnson (PSU), OLB Darron Lee (OSU) The rules dictate I take a quarterback here, and I'll abide by those rules. For the most part.

Braxton Miller isn't the favorite to win the job at Ohio State. He's coming off a lost season after his surgically repaired throwing shoulder fell apart in fall camp. JT Barrett stepped in and nearly won the Heisman; Cardale Jones relieved Barrett and won the national title. Miller may have the least amount of pro potential of the three, at least at quarterback.

Health permitting, however, Miller may be the best college quarterback. It's not a stretch to say he's already a legendary Big Ten QB. He's one of four players in the history of the conference to win two Big Ten MVP awards. In his most recent season, he passed for 2094 yards on 8.2 YPA and rushed for 1068 on 6.2 YPC; he accounted for 36 touchdowns and threw only seven interceptions. The list of national, Big Ten, and school records he owns or has in his sights is too long to list here. He may not be the most polished passer, but he is a breathtaking runner:

While Miller's injury is a downside the other two Buckeye QBs don't have, his running ability provides an upside his competition lacks. If Miller doesn't win the job, it's in everyone's best interest for him to play running back or H-back (Meyer's Percy Harvin position). He probably wouldn't start with Ezekiel Elliott and Jalin Marshall, respectively, holding those two spots, but it'd be hard to keep him off the field as long as he stays healthy.

If I'm lucky, I just snagged a #1-pick value in the eighth round. If I'm not, I still think Miller will contribute in some form, and I can grab one of the middle-tier quarterbacks later as insurance.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Soon after Ace made this pick it was announced that Miller would be playing H-back/Harvin guy. The commissioner decided that Ace had to take an actual QB with his next pick, which is in the next post, and had the option of keeping Miller or throwing him back in the pool and taking a supplemental pick immediately. Ace chose to keep Miller, because duh.]

After 30 picks you don't expect to find a second-team All-American still on the board, especially not when he's a linebacker-sized ballhawk who led Wisconsin in tackles last year as a safety, and outshone Chris Borland in 2013 from F linebacker (hybrid space player).

As you might have guessed, I'm picking for either a 3-3-5 or a 4-2-5 defense with hybrids to either side. Since the conference's elite pass rushers went off the board quickly, my strategy for kicking ass will have to include a lot of blitzing, which means having the dudes who can do that or cover a lot of ground behind it. Basically it's the anti-spread modern version of the 46 defense. And it just so happens the reincarnation of #46 (Doug Plank) himself plays in the Big Ten.

If we're assigning roles between this trio, Caputo is the two-parts-linebacker/meat-raw safety who takes the side of the tight end. From Madison.com:

Michael Caputo was 2 years old when he hopped on his toy articulated vehicle, a load of dirt in the back, and pedaled down the 125-foot long driveway at the family’s home near Pittsburgh. The boy picked up speed along the way crashing into a concrete wall.

He thought it was so much fun that he did it over and over.

Go ahead and save that for the next time someone asks you to describe Wisconsin in so many words. After cement walls, Caputo finds Big Ten tight ends remarkably pliable, if less fun. Popping bubble screens is just easy. Last year when I stole him in round 21 I quoted DC Dave Arranda on how his then-sophomore was the only guy who could make the schematic adjustments that made Wisconsin's run defense work. Here's safeties coach Bill Busch one year later:

“He’s the true captain of the ship back there with all the adjustments that he makes,” Busch said of Caputo, who plays alongside true freshman Lubern Figaro. “A lot of times we put him in the position that requires the most thinking.”

The Kovacs is strong in this one. If Kovacs was the size of a linebacker, hit like a truck, and fell one spot shy of a Bednarik semifinalist last year.

The Big Ten may have an abundance of talent at corner this fall, but I couldn't let Murray sit on the board any longer. He has a two-year track record as one of the best cover corners in college football, lining up so close he can tell you what the opposing receiver had for their pregame meal while possessing the rare ability to jam and turn and run and actually stay with guys for more than 10 yards.

He's not going to post eye-popping interception totals (he has one career pick, and that came last season against San Jose State), but his 17 PBUs and 75% of tackles being of the solo variety over the past two years show what he can do in coverage and in run support. Defensive backs coach Jay Sawvel agrees:

"He's a good tackler, he's a great blitzer, he's a tremendous special-teams player, he's very, very good in press coverage to the point where a lot of times a play will just break down."

The conference has Michael Thomas, Leonte Carroo, and Dudes Who Sometimes Catch Things. I think Murray will be just fine.

Sticking with defense, I've decided to start building my linebacking corps in the middle, which is probably the conference's weakest spot. You can't say I didn't try to make this draft entertaining.

McMillan takes over for the departed (and oft-criticized) Curtis Grant, whose playing time McMillan already started leeching last fall. McMillan finished the season with 54 total tackles, 6.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks, 1 interception, and 1 PBU, playing in every game except the season opener against Navy and the Sugar Bowl against Alabama.

He's not the fastest, but he has good size (6-2, 240) and the kind of instincts that are so often discussed they fill many pages when you Google him. He's also adapted nicely to calling the defense. Per DC Luke Fickell:

"That's the thing that you saw early on. There's some guys who have intelligence and some that aren't football smart, then some who are and don't really work at it. He's got an incredible combination of all of it."

McMillan will benefit from playing next to WLB/Heart and Soul Guy/Gritty Gritster Josh Perry and SLB/hybrid space destroyer/stat sheet filler Darron Lee, but the former top-50 recruit should be able to hold his own against the Big Ten's terrifying stable of offensive weapons.

Mitchell Deciding Soon, Will Be Back For BBQ

Four-star NJ WR Ahmir Mitchell visited Ohio State for their Friday Night Lights camp and Michigan on Saturday. Buckeye insiders on both Rivals (Marc Givler) and Scout (Bill Greene) sounded the commitment alarm Saturday afternoon, expecting Mitchell to wind up in Michigan's class as soon as... well, Saturday, and while it didn't happen that quickly things still look very good. Mitchell told The Wolverine's Tim Sullivan the two rivals are running even atop his list ($):

"I love Ohio State; it is a great place," he said. "Them and Michigan are neck-and-neck at one. I am going to compare [the two visits] and sit down with my mom. These two visits are mainly mom visits. I already have a good (feel) for both of them, so after I sit down with my mom afterwards that is what's going to be the big difference-maker between the two."

That said, Michigan looks to have the edge. Mitchell has already set a return trip. He wants to make a decision in August after talking things over with his mom, who accompanied him on both visits. Ohio State is rumored to have a couple receivers—Donnie Corley and Binjimen Victor—above Mitchell on their board with limited spots remaining. Unless the Buckeyes make a serious late push, which still might not be enough to overcome the Jersey-to-Michigan draw, Mitchell should wind up in the class relatively soon.

Is realignment done? The Big XII is bouncing around the idea of making their conference even more mid-major than it stands now. Meanwhile the Big Ten's TV deals are all up very soon, so there's a chance to lock in oodles and oodles of money that won't come again. Why not go on one last expansion binge now to really set the market and ensure our conference's survival and fan interest in an uncertain future?

Here's my suggestion:

1. Rename. We're not 10 schools anymore, and this is confusing. I suggest the Big Ten rebrand as THE BIG SIX. The six shall refer to the six divisions, many of which have "Big" in their titles. Also since anything more than 11 teams is really a league not a conference, we'll call this the BIG SIX LEAGUE and the divisions can be called "conferences."

2. Expand. Here are the teams I'd add to the conference league, and how I'd break them up into divisions conferences of 10 or 11 teams based on shared geography, program culture, and history:

These divisions can have nicknames like "Big Ten" or "Big East." To ensure no more crazy realignment, every team must affirm a six-year commitment at the beginning of every season (i.e. there's a six-year waiting period if you want to leave). No conference can expand past 11; any joining school must get a 2/3rds majority of votes from the league, and unanimous support from its conference.

3. The Schedule. Every school plays all of its division opponents plus three from the other five conferences (scheduled as two-year home and homes), for 12 games total (since the SEC has 11 teams they play just two non-conference opponents). Six must be at home and six away, and no more than five conference games can be home. Cross-conference schools may contract with each other to schedule these in advance, with any holes filled in by the league two years prior.

Every team is allowed to schedule one pre-season exhibition (the Rich Rod plan), but it will not count toward that team's record for determining final postseason ranking. Every league game (not just division record) however will count toward winning your division. League play begins the week after Labor Day, and must conclude by the last Saturday of November.

4. Conference Championship Playoff. I would replace the conference championship game with a six-team conference playoff between the division winners.

The first round is played at the home of the higher-ranked (determined by committee) school in early December, with the two top teams getting a bye.

The second round is played Christmas Day at the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, with the two winners of the first round versus two teams that earned byes (highest overall seed selects its venue).

The championship is played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on January 1. The third place game is played at the Fiesta Bowl. Any school eliminated from the Final Four is free to play in any bowl game against any opponent (in or out of the league), regardless of final record.

5. Make Appropriate Hand Gestures Toward NCAA. The league shall declare its own rules superior to any made by the NCAA, and choose to ignore any NCAA rule. The league will make its own rules, specifically regarding appropriate compensation for its athletes (for example lifetime medical benefits, performance bonuses, league-approved player agents, and pay), and recruiting rules. Member schools will no longer be directly responsible to NCAA enforcement. The commissioner of this league shall be selected by the athletes, and will hold veto power.

Brady Hoke recruited a lot of offensive linemen, but had trouble finding tackles. Some of that was just bad luck—a few months after he acquired top 100 tackle Chris Fox his knee turned into jello. Some of it was a reliance on developing guys like Logan Tuley-Tillman. Hoke's player development was… let's say subpar.

As a result, Grant Newsome walks into a depth chart where he may already be on the two-deep, depending on where exactly Ben Braden and Erik Magnuson end up. That's because he is very much a tackle, and probably that rarest of man-mountain: the natural left tackle. After Newsome played in the Semper Fi game, Tim Sullivan tracked down his coach for an extensive article:

"First of all, you can't teach 6-7," Hansen said. "I think it's a frame that coach is going to be enthralled with. Knowing Coach Harbaugh like I do, I know that he likes big dudes who can move. His work ethic is great, his understanding of offensive concepts is great, he'll learn quickly.
…
"It's not that I was not expecting it, but I think his pass protection was something that was ahead of his run blocking at this stage of the game," Hansen said. "A lot of times, you get the opposite for a high school kid, where they're more comfortable run blocking. He was more versed in protection part of it."

247's Barton Simmons calls him a "future left tackle" with "outstanding" size, echoing the implication that he's got great feet but needs to work on pad level/leverage/run blocking. Colleague Steve Wiltfong had a similar take after seeing him at an Opening regional:

…could have easily won offensive line MVP honors and … Perhaps he still will. Has the ideal frame one wants in a left tackle, has nice length, he can bend, he keeps defensive linemen off him, not letting them get their hands on him.

And so it goes.

Clint Brewster, 247: "Newsome is a long, athletic offensive tackle that has the body frame and range to play on the left side. … reminds me of current Michigan offensive lineman Logan Tuley-Tillman, who has a similar body type and playing style. Newsome does a great job in pass protection because of his long arms and quick feet. … could be more physical in the running game and but dominates at the high school level with his size and technique. Keeps his hands inside and has an excellent base- always staying in his hips and driving through."

ESPN: "Displays good bend and flexibility in his stance. … his big, lengthy frame can present a detour for rushers. … doesn't consistently deliver a good initial pop and roll hips and can get stalemated. … Newsome has good size and ability to work with and develop. Little raw and inconsistent in areas and needs to continue to fill out."

Adam Friedman, Rivals: "definitely lived up to the hype. He's a huge offensive lineman with great feet and excellent patience. It was also impressive to see how much of a leader he was. Even in warm-ups, he was talking to his players making sure they were ready. Overall strength is an issue for Newsome."

Brian Dohn, Scout: "long and athletic, and he has a good initial punch. …doesa very good job of getting to the second level, and he also understands how to sit in pass protection and not reach."

There is not much dissension in the ranks here, though ESPN turns in another evaluation that doesn't seem to fit their ranking. Some previous recruits in this class had highly encouraging reports coupled with generic three-star rankings; in this case they give a four-star guy a tepid review with a lot of "flashes ability X."

The general impression is that Newsome is an ideal left tackle who doesn't seem likely to become the kind of donkey-hating asset in the run game that a Taylor Lewan or a Jake Long was.

One caveat: Dohn notes that Newsome attends an "exclusive boarding school," which in retrospect yeah, it's called "The Lawrenceville School," of course. This means he hasn't gone up against quality competition. Most of the defensive ends he's faced aspire to be C-blank-Os instead of face-mashing NFL players. That seems to have put a hard ceiling on his rankings since recruiting analysts don't have much, if any, opportunity to see him against top competition.

That's a negative, but it's one that helped Michigan retain a much-needed asset. Newsome never wavered despite everything. The boarding school plays into that. On top of his physical qualities, Newsome is also an excellent student, carrying a 3.65 GPA at a serious school. He has an unusual background for anyone other than that dude with a ponytail from Good Will Hunting:

Academics are huge to Newsome, who plans on majoring in history. Both of his parents, and one of his grandfathers, graduated from Princeton with degrees in history.

“I guess it’s something that just runs in the family,” the 6-foot-7, 295-pound Newsome said. “I’m really interested in the Civil War reconstruction period.

Newsome and Lloyd Carr are going to be best buds.

This is good for any player since it means they'll probably be coachable, stick around, and help out the APR; for OL it's even more important since OL is extraordinarily complicated. OL consistently score the highest on the NFL's wonderlic test. Newsome should be able to handle the mental aspect of the game, and relatively quickly.

Why Adam Stenavich? Stenavich was not quite the level of prospect Lewan and Long were but he was a quality left tackle who was first team All Big Ten for two consecutive years and kicked around NFL practice squads for five years after he graduated. Stenavich was a high quality pass protector in college but only decent as a run blocker.

One important difference: Stenavich was only 6'4". Newsome has higher upside.

Guru Reliability: High-minus. High profile player with approximate rankings consensus. Did do a few camps, but not many.

Variance: Moderate-plus. Newsome's close to the correct size already, has no academic question marks, and has a definite spot he projects to. Still needs all of the OL stuff, and level of competition is in question.

Ceiling: High. Not elite since he doesn't seem to be the kind of mean, mashing run blocker that Long and Lewan were.

General Excitement Level: High-minus. Excellent package at a very important position, but is OL.

Projection: Is OL, redshirt.

After, Michigan doesn't need him right away unless injury strikes. He probably has another year as a backup waiting for him since Mason Cole isn't going anywhere and whoever locks down the right tackle job this year should maintain it. If that's Erik Magnuson—my current guess—then Newsome will be one of the prime candidates to replace him 2017.

Cole's job could also come open then if he's good enough to leave for the draft, but since he's not one of those 6'8" Lewan-shaped guys that's not particularly likely. So in 2018 a redshirt junior Newsome is probably going to be the top option at left tackle to replace a four-year starter.

Milksteak did the quarterbacks earlier, and now he's on to comparing running backs, taking their extant stats and seeing who projects into the same realm. I'm interested in what he comes up with for the receivers since I'm doing a similar study right now using Bill Connelly's receiver stats.

Rudock vs Cook common opponents. Click takes you to the article.

But that's getting ahead of ourselves. This one's on Green et al.:

Green's 5.7 Yds/Carry looks very similar to freshman Chris Perry's 5.4 average. Freshman Tyrone Wheatley's 6.4 Yds/Carry represents the top of the comparisons, and he was much more of a TD vulture than Green has been. Carlos Brown's sophomore campaign looks somewhat similar as well. Let's see how these running backs fared in their next year.

Chris Perry had the same surprising size/acceleration combo and couldn't find a hole unless he was escorted to it, but he also had some ridiculous balance. His magnificent senior season now overshadows the period when B.J. Askew was clearly a better option. Up until this point in Green's career, however, Perry was behind A-Train. The stat comparisons only tell you so much, for example De'Veon Smith is not Jamie Morris. Ed Davis maybe.

Going back to the QBs, Dawkins posted a board thing comparing Rudock to Connor Cook thus far. When Ace inevitably drafts Jake Rudock he'll appreciate this the thing at right. What it doesn't show is that MSU was extremely conservative with Cook until progressively taking him off apron strings at the end 2013. Then again, Rudock worked for Greg Davis so…

Also how do two quarterbacks in the same conference only have three common opponents? Oh right.

Castorimorpha Control

Alum96 has been previewing Michigan's opponents, and the rodentia are up. Other than that one team that got one of the most successful NFL coaches to come back to college, Oregon State pulled off the coup of the offseason when they stole Wisconsin's head coach. It would turn out to be de gras, as the beloved AD who engineered that, Bob De Carolis, retired into the Michigan Athletic Department he was long a part of (he was the softball coach who hired Hutchins).

All of that is only of small relevance to 2015 OSU (NTOSU), which returns only two defensive starters from a unit that wasn't very good. In case you're wondering, no, Wisconsin's excellent DC is still at Wisconsin.

Alum96's previews continue with Minnesota, which is still Minnesota except minus an excellent center, an excellent running back, some excellent members of the front seven, and an excellent Maxxx. Don't miss the SB Nation Study Hall article he links.

6. The Art of Smart Football, by Chris Brown. This is a collection of articles about the recent evolution of football chalk, not pictures from his blog. "Five Stories About the Spread Offense" is brilliant and depressing.

By the way I finally met both Kryk and Dr. Sap in person. They are what I would have been if I was born 20 years earlier. And in Canada. And if I was cool.

MICHIGAN VERSION OF THE FACEBOOK $15 THINGY

Seriously? Brady, Wheatley, AC, Woodson, Harbaugh, and you can keep the extra dollar.

WHAT COLOR IS THIS MAN. Adidas released some uniformz for Nebraska that are as goofy as they usually are. I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about what color this person is.

Look at this person's face. That's weird. I guess he's put eyeblack everywhere in an effort to look like a big and tough and maybe remind people of the Ultimate Warrior. You can see that at the edge of his face his skin tone goes back to the lighter shade of his nose.

Miller’s fallback plan has become a reality, as he told SI.com on Thursday night that he plans to start the 2015 season playing H-Back—a hybrid receiver position—for the Buckeyes. Miller hasn’t completely closed the door on playing quarterback, as he estimates that he’ll spend 80% of the time during training camp at receiver and 20% with the quarterbacks. But Miller said with more than two months until he’ll be completely healthy at quarterback, he’s approaching this season as primarily a wide receiver.

"H-back" means a different thing in Urban Meyer's offense than it does in Hoke or Harbaugh's. This is not Wyatt Shallman. This is Percy Harvin.

That does chop down on the "yes, but" Michigan fans are preparing after they saw Devin Gardner's somewhat amateurish attempt to play WR. Miller's going to be an option on a bunch of running plays and get targeted on screens. He is not going to be asked to track balls over his shoulder after lining up on a cornerback—at least not much. That makes his move depressingly plausible.

It also opens up the kind of trick plays you last saw eight-year-olds come up with at the family picnic. Dude.

I have an easy way to fix this. Nobody knows what a catch is anymore. I don't have to tell Lions fans this, of course. Michigan's also had their brushes with the gray area against Virginia Tech and Iowa. The NFL's attempt to fix things:

The problem here is that this is not an algorithm for determining if it is a catch. You need a function. This is an NFL function, FWIW.

function isitacatch(feet_down, touchy_feely_vars){

if (feet_down < 2)

return false;

if (feet_down > 2)

return true;

if (feet_down == 2)

did the ball touch the ground? return false; did the receiver bobble the ball such that he had to re-catch it while out of bounds? return false;

return true;

}

College version is the same except you return false only on feet_down < 1 and check the touchy-feely on 1 or 2. Also I know you don't need the last if statement.

The VT and Iowa plays above should not have to go to extraordinarily long replays subject to announcer debate. Both of them touched the ground. You have one job as a receiver: don't let it touch the ground.

At some point you have accomplished that job. That point is currently determined by feelingsball instead of "you took another step," which is pretty close to definitive. Engineers should write these things, not lawyers.

Gary Andersen sipping tea. Wisconsin has shot down one of their top recruits:

Incoming freshman running back Jordan Stevenson was denied admission to the University of Wisconsin, according to a report by 247sports.com.

Stevenson, a four-star prospect who was considered one of the Badgers’ top recruits for the 2015 class, confirmed on Twitter that his recruitment is open to any Division I program.

“#Badgernation Thanks for all the love also all the support through all I have been through much love,” Stevenson tweeted.

That's a bizarre situation. Players do occasionally get rejected by the NCAA clearinghouse, but in those cases the player heads to JUCO. Stevenson is apparently trying to find a landing spot this fall. And when serious academic schools who are serious reject players for reasons other than "you are literally not eligible to play", they do it before, say, late July.

If Stevenson does end up on campus this fall (Arkansas?), Gary Andersen's shocking jump to Oregon State will look pretty justified. It's one thing to deny entry to a player. It's another to do it now, months after he signed a LOI.

The wave, 1984. They were super excited about new technology back in the day:

According to Wikipedia, Michigan brought the wave back from a game against Washington in 1983. A letter to the editor claimed that it stuck because

"There are three reasons why the wave caught on at Michigan Wolverine games: It gave the fans something to do when the team was leading its opponent by 40 points, it was thrilling and exciting to see 105,000 people in the stands moving and cheering, and Bo Schembechler asked us not to do it."

From Michigan it spread to the Tigers, and when the Tigers won the World Series that year it was on TV a ton. The rest is history.